Is it Time to Upgrade Your Client? How to Know
Your business is always changing and evolving. As you grow, your business grows. Growing can mean a lot of different things - higher paying clients, creating products or programs, or adding a new line of revenue. As your business continues to shift you will find that it might be time to upgrade your client.
What does "Upgrade Your Client" mean? It means that you are ready for a new type of client. It might be one that is committed or further down the experience curve than your current client. In my first few years of business I was great at attracting brand new business owners. Those who were just leaping into the solo-entrepreneur home-based experience. I loved them at the time. Over the years my business has evolved and I attract a much more seasoned and committed type of business owner who is adding multiple streams to her business, leveraging her marketing with systems, and creating products and programs to reach more people. Now I really love this client! The evolution has kept it interesting and allowed me to grow along with my business.
There are certain points in your business life cycle where things are ready to change. You just have to listen and pay attention to the signals!
Signs that you are ready to Upgrade Your Client:
1. You are restless.
You find that you are feel restless and even impatient with clients and your daily tasks. You just find that you are grumpy and irritated that your clients are having the same problems over and over again.
2. You are Bored.
You look at your calendar in the morning and you start sending messages to the universe... oh, how I hope they cancel today! You know something is up if you don't even have the energy or interest to meet with your clients!
3. Your clients are restless and bored.
How do you know this? They start canceling, rescheduling or not even showing up for appointments! Or they show up but are not prepared or obviously not enthusiastic about being with you.
4. You are distracting yourself with other things.
You find that you are running errands, doing laundry, losing yourself in endless computer time - anything but calling a client or doing the work.
Ok, before you think that you are a hopeless business owner and you should just close your business down, consider this...these are all signals - good signals - that your business is wanting to shift. That it's time to upgrade your client. These are flashing beacons asking you to pay attention that it's time to let your business evolve to the next level. It's funny, but your business will speak to you if you just listen.
There's one more signal. This one feels really good.
5. Your clients are asking for "what's next?"
Yes, they are outright asking you for more. They want more from you. It's time to go further than you've gone before with your services or products. They are calling you forth into the new evolution of your business! This happened to me. I had clients signing up for my year-long Platinum Style program before I even officially launched it. My clients were ready. I just had to keep up!
These 5 signals mean that it's time to shift your business model - maybe it's time for a more successful and committed client - one who can pay you more too; maybe it's time for a new type of client or a similiar client in a new industry to making things more interesting, or you might be getting the signal that it's time to package your wisdom, knowledge and expertise into products or programs to reach more people. It's time to create multiple streams of income.
All these avenues to shift your business are part of the natural evolution. The big message for today is to pay attention to the signals. Don't think your business is going down because you are irritated or bored - it's a good thing!
Now, what signals are you experiencing? Where is your business telling you it wants to move to?
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